Eating

Seasonal allergies are annoying, and so are the drugs you pop to relieve sneezing, sniffling, and itchy, red eyes. (They tire you out! They’re expensive!) While you can’t reduce the pollen in the air, you might be able to limit the number of drugs you take in response and try some natural allergy relief. “The biggest trend we see in allergies isn’t technology and it isn’t medicine—it’s the tendency to go for a more natural treatment,” says Brunilda Nazario, MD, medical editor at WebMD. Here are some natural remedies for allergies to keep your symptoms at bay.…

It can be hard cooking for one or two. Recipes are often made to feed four to six. Concerns of cooking too much, having way too much leftover, overeating (because too much was made) or it’s too much effort when it’s only for one are the concerns I often hear at the classes I teach. Well, I’m here to help!

Here are some tips to make cooking for one or two easier. And, the best thing is that these tips can still be applied to feeding families or big crowds!…

I have to admit that I was dubious about making salads in a jar. How do you keep ingredients fresh and prevent soggy, limp salad greens? With some trial and error, I discovered the key to success is in the order of the ingredients you layer in the jar! Salads in a jar are great – saving money, time, and ensuring you have something healthy available when you don’t feel like cooking! With these simple how to’s, you can easily have salads in a jar on hand to enjoy.…

Lunch. As a mom, it’s the meal I dread the most. Even when I have the best intentions, our morning seems to be full of groggy running around, trying to quickly pack lunches, and getting out the door. Even as homeschoolers, it seems we are forever on the go. If I don’t pack us lunch, we end up eating out – which costs a lot and isn’t always healthy.

As a nutritionist, I wanted to find a way to make it easier for me to create easy, simple, but delicious lunches that everyone (including my husband and I) would enjoy.

Are you in a rut? Don’t feel like cooking? Cooking at home is healthier and costs less than eating out. Here are 4 Reasons You Don’t Feel Like Cooking Tonight (and What to Do About It).

You don’t know what to cook
Have three to five go-to recipes they can make almost on autopilot. These are the recipes that take very little time, energy, and brain space to make. They might not even be recipes, per se — think scrambled eggs on toast, veggies and hummus, a piece of grilled chicken and a lightly dressed salad. (For me, it’s tacos. I take tortillas, then fill them with whatever motley assortment of toppings I can cull from the fridge and pantry.)…

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays! So much so that I wrote about it several years ago. It’s one time of the year when make believe is celebrated. I love homemade decoration and costumes and when everyone (especially adults!) dresses up. What I don’t love is all of the really bad sweets and candy…and it’s everywhere. Now that my kids are older, they definitely notice.

So, what’s a mom to do? I scoured Pinterest and magazines and here are some of the treats we made. They’re easy and fun to make. I promise.…

Adaptogens are a unique class of healing plants. They help restore, protect the body, and balance the body’s resistance to stressors (adrenals/HPA axis) while boosting resistance to viruses and bacteria.

The term adaptogen was coined in 1947 by a Russian scientist, N.V. Lazarev, who was interested in substances that helped the body adapt to physical and emotional stress. Adaptogens produce a nonspecific (total body) response that increases resistance against harm from physical and emotional stress (disease, anxiety, etc.). Adaptogens have a normalizing effect, improving the function of many body systems and are nontoxic, causing no significant side effects…

On Feb 16th, I was lucky enough to be invited to join the Northern CA Lupus Foundation for a Facebook Live event. I can not thank them enough for allowing me to be a part of their Facebook Live Series: Lupus 101.

For those that are unaware, Lupus is among the least understood chronic diseases. It is an autoimmune disorder that affects more than 1.5 million Americans, especially women, African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans and Native Americans. Lupus affects more people than AIDS, cerebral palsy, MS, sickle cell anemia and cystic fibrosis COMBINED, yet it does not receive as much attention. There is no known cure and and is very difficult to diagnose.

The Northern CA Lupus Foundation is an amazing organization that provides information and support through programs and services designed to educate and increase the knowledge of those affected by lupus, promote lupus awareness, and support external research.

Even with such a serious topic, it was so much fun to sit and talk about food with Christine and Spandan. I was thrilled that so many people watched us live. If you suffer from an autoimmune disorder, there’s tons in our discussion that could be beneficial for you! …

This week, we went organic strawberry pickings for the first time in 2 years. Though we ate strawberries from time to time, we never made all the yummy extras that we always had in the past. To understand why, read my post about not so organic strawberries. My kids are ecstatic that we’re strawberry picking again…and they picked 12lbs!

All the way home, they discussed all the yummy treats we’d make. Besides making jam, I needed a way to save strawberries to continue enjoying them, even when strawberry season is over. If you find yourself with extra strawberries, consider trying this as an easy ways to save and enjoy strawberries.

Print Recipe

Strawberry Chips

Dehydrating strawberries is easy, simple, and the taste is incredible! The strawberry flavor is intensified and it's like candy. Add them to granola, trail mix,